Sermon Central
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Faithful Series
Contributed by Shawn Drake on May 7, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the 148th sermon in the series "Action".
Series: Action [#148]
FAITHFUL
Introduction:
We live in a time that the concept of faithfulness is gone. Whether it is faithfulness in a relationship, faithfulness at a job, faithfulness to a Church, or your faithfulness to God; most people are not too concerned. How do you stay faithful to God in an environment like ours? Paul gives us an example of how to remain faithful, even in the most difficult situations.
Stay faithful by ignoring…
1. False accusations.
As Paul was leaving Ephesus and several other cities, the Christians there begged him to not go to Jerusalem. What was Paul’s response?
In Acts 20, not only did Paul tell the Ephesians that he was going to Jerusalem because he was being led by the Spirit; but he also told them that he would never see them again. While Paul was in Caesarea, it was prophesied that he would be arrested in Jerusalem. Once again when he left town; the people begged him to not go to Jerusalem.
Paul knew that his trip to Jerusalem was going to be difficult; but he went anyways. He was accused of trying to destroy Judaism and the Law. He was also accused of taking Greeks into the Temple which was forbidden. This was based on the fact that some people saw Paul in town with some Greeks. Paul knew that these accusations were not true; but what could he do? There was nothing that he could do to change these people’s minds.
Stay faithful by ignoring…
2. Public opinion.
People from all over the city were running to participate in the beating of Paul. Most likely, the majority of people didn’t even know why they were beating Paul. As soon as the people saw the soldiers coming, they stopped beating Paul. Public opinion is rarely correct. In fact, it changes quickly.
Stay faithful by ignoring…
3. Unfair treatment.
Why was Paul arrested? He had not done anything wrong, and he was the person who was being abused. This proves that life is not fair. As I have said before, you do not want what is fair. These people hated Paul so bad, that they wanted him dead. The soldiers had to pick him up to get him out of trouble.
Conclusion:
The faith and trust in God that it requires to go through things like this and remain faithful to God is massive. Most of the time, it takes much less to make me want to give up.
If you have missed everything that I have said this morning, listen to this- Even the commander thought that Paul was an Egyptian terrorist; but it did not stop Paul from asking if he could speak to the people. This is the very people trying to kill Paul and he wanted to talk to them about Jesus.
No matter what is going on in your life, you need to be faithful to God. It does not matter what people think of you; but your relationship with God does matter. Who are you trying to please?
